WE TWO GROWNUP5 slight coolness of her skin or the way her hair would get in my mouth. We heard the flock coming toward us. They were about to leave, and then the doorbell rang agaIn. It was a woman carrying a bag of groceries. "I saw a light," she said. "I live on the block. I was making sure nobody b k . " ro e In. She looked all of us over. I couldn't tell whether she was a nice person who was curious or somebody out to make trouble. Our two future residents hap- pened to be standing on either side of me, and I had a silly impulse to spread my arms wIde as if to guard them The silent lady in the thick glasses, who stood to my left, looked a little like this woman who had just come in. They both had gray coats With gold buttons. "Is everyone from the state hospital?" said the woman. I didn't know whether she was asking if we were all mental pa- tients or whether everyone who was go- ing to live in the house was from the state hospital. " N " . d P 1 " A . d " 0, sal ame a. mlXe group. "My husband," said the woman. "He keeps talking about who's moving in here. He's been talking to the neigh- bors. Mter all, there are old people on the block." I got upset. It was the only time all day I was really upset. "Old people?" said the young man. "An old man killed someone for start- ing a fire-for burning leaves, which you know is against the law. But your hus- band doesn't burn leaves, does he?" "Burton," said Pamela firmly. Ida began to laugh, and so did the silent lady, but the woman with the groceries didn't laugh. "1' d like to grow tulips," said the quiet woman. "Oh, tulips, well," saId the woman with the groceries She shook her head doubtfully, as if tulips grew only in cer- tain rare conditions that you didn't find much around here. And then she left, and so did Pamela Shepherd and the flock, and Ida and I went back to kissing. Ida said, "I should have known," and we moved awkwardly from room to room while kissing. After a while I stopped and said, "That lady's going to make trouble." "She might," said Ida. 'What will we do then?" 'We'll decide when the time comes," she said firmly, and I was comforted, or almost comforted. I don't know yet what land of trouble the lady is going to make, if any. I don't know how her trouble could get into the happiest day, but it did. And still it was the happiest day. We lassed some more. Ida left her bag on the living-room floor and we kissed our wav from room to room, .I looking for a place to lie down-but there were only hardwood floors. Then I heard a kev in the lock and then ./ clattering. It was John, who'd gone from the dentist to the lumberyard and come back with a load of lumber. " G 1 " h et an ear y start tomorrow, e greeted me when we came to the door. He looked across the living room at the turquoise bag, flopped there with its buckles open, and then he looked at Ida. "We have a Canto of Pound's for you," said Ida. I handed it to John and he read it. "Nothing about Jews," he said, "one way or another." He looked at Ida again and 87 then he looked at me, and I could tell that he saw how happy I was, that he saw Ida Just the way J did, as if he, too, had loved her for years, as if he'd turned into me for a moment, just to see how it felt. Which seemed remarkable-that someone should care to know. Ida and I didn't say anything. We stood there like fools, our hands at our sides, like people being measured for something. We were looking at John as if he were the future, whùe he looked at us as if he wondered what we were working up to. We all stood there longer than you'd think, and after a while I began to enu- merate tomorrow's tasks in my mind: we're going to build a doorway with the new lumber, and then we'll put in a kitchen floor. Soon, when Ida and I have been lovers for a week or two, and the shape of her naked breasts is already familiar and dear to me, heat will come through the clanking metal ducts John and I have been fastening into place day after day. And if we put in the plumb- ing right-if nothing goes wrong- then water will flow through pipes. . "'/ ;; "1:. ." :. ::.:::':o" ,\. o : . . .iF . ".:& \ - III '/ : \-', . . - . . " ................ . 1;".: :. '1& :-. *. ( :. l'J ^ .J? n . Pi /( ú{qt. · /' ---:::> ''My vacatzon this year was a voyage ofpersonal dzscovery. I learned that rm balding, jòrtyish Ward Folinger, certified public accountant. "